Transform Minnesota: the evangelical network, calls upon President Trump to lift the ban on U.S. refugee admissions. The spirit of this Executive Order is based on fears that originate from incorrect facts about refugees, and is an action that runs contrary to our Christian moral imperative to shelter those fleeing violence and persecution.

“While government policy may change, the Church’s calling has not and we will stand with refugees,” says Carl Nelson, President and CEO of Transform Minnesota.

Among Transform Minnesota’s core values are the Sanctity of Life, Religious Freedom, and Mercy. These values, drawn from our evangelical faith and belief in the Bible, compel us to offer refuge to those who are suffering the most, to vigilantly defend each other’s religious freedom, and to protect the lives of refugees who are made in the image of God.

We believe that the President’s actions to suspend refugee admissions are based on incorrect facts that the refugee screening process is not secure. In fact, refugees entering the U.S. undergo an extreme vetting process that takes 18-24 months.

“As Christians we should act in faith, not fear, and base our actions in truth,” says Nelson. “I have been directly involved in refugee resettlement for 19 years and have great confidence in the rigorous vetting process that refugees already go through.”

We celebrate that more than 130 evangelical churches in Minnesota have partnered with our affiliate resettlement agency, Arrive Ministries, to welcome and care for refugees in just the past year. Transform Minnesota calls upon fellow Christians to stand with refugees and immigrants who are already here.

“Many of the ethnic congregations who share our church buildings are anxious and fearful. We need to love and support the broken families separated by war, who will need more help while they wait indefinitely for spouses to rejoin them,” said Nelson.

“My heart is heavy thinking about a Somali mother and baby who fled to China, and were supposed to arrive at the Minneapolis St. Paul airport on Valentine’s Day. A local church matched through our affiliate resettlement agency, Arrive Ministries, was planning on welcoming them at the airport, to help them adjust to their first winter in Minnesota. But this mother and her baby were denied entry to the U.S. because we have let fear and false facts define our refugee and immigration policy,” said Nelson.

“God commands us to love, welcome and seek justice for refugees and other immigrants. Now more than ever Christians must reject false facts and stand with the vulnerable, the persecuted and the displaced,” said Nelson. “Rather than cowering in fear derived from false facts, let’s act boldly with faith in eternal truth.”

Read more statements from the National Association of Evangelicals and World Relief:

NAE Calls on President Trump to Continue Resettling Refugees

The world changes. The Church’s calling doesn’t. Still we stand.